THE cameras flashed and energy sizzled through a packed crowd last night at Yankee Stadium, the telltale signs of a huge event.

Then why did it feel, to some degree, as if the Yankees were still in spring training?

It was the first week of June, yet the Yanks remained in the audition phase, turning Joba Chamberlain into a starter and running through a cattle call to try to find a suitable replacement for him as a late-game reliever.

In the big picture this probably is the right move with Chamberlain, to see if he indeed can blossom into a top-of-the-rotation stalwart. But it sure does feel as if 2008 is slowly being sacrificed to this experiment.

On Monday night, the Yanks lost in Minnesota as Kyle Farnsworth could not do what had been Chamberlain’s eighth-inning job. Twenty-four hours later, the Yankees lost at home to Toronto because Chamberlain is not yet equipped with his emotions and with his repertoire for his new role.

The Yanks had hoped for at least four innings from Chamberlain, a spring-training length. But with his adrenaline still pumping like a reliever, Chamberlain was wild and gone after recording just seven outs. That forced the Yanks into the bullpen earlier than they were even anticipating.

The first three relievers – Dan Giese, Jose Veras and Edwar Ramirez – were not with the Yankees when the season began; Giese actually arrived yesterday to serve as Chamberlain’s personal long reliever. Again, there was a “B” game in Dunedin feel to this all.

Except, of course, this was regular-season Game 58. There were 53,269 in the house. And the Jays’ 9-3 rout counted. The Yanks again are two games under .500 (28-30), again in last place. For real.

Maybe this will all work. Maybe Jorge Posada will return from the actual extended spring later this week and make the Yankee lineup whole and – more important – stay healthy. Maybe Chamberlain will adapt quickly to this role and perhaps be joined in July by a more effective Phil Hughes, giving the Yanks a youthful burst of excellence and energy in the rotation.

But that is becoming harder to believe. This season was always going to be a tightrope walk as the Yanks tried to indoctrinate young starters while hoping their veteran position core remained effective. So far they have not stayed on the tightrope. They have fallen and might not get up.

No one with the Yanks, naturally, will admit the future is taking precedent. Not at these prices in the payroll and at the turnstiles, not with Steinbrenners still in control.

“Normally it doesn’t happen like that here,” Johnny Damon said of emphasizing the future over the present.

Chamberlain is such a key piece to both 2008 and beyond, which is why he was on a 65-pitch limit last night, preservation of his arm mattering more than Game 58. But Chamberlain still has much to learn about being a starter, beginning with reining his emotions.

An amped version of Chamberlain thrives in relief when hitters recognize they will see him once and are more apt to chase his pitches. But with a full-game philosophy, hitters are going to make Joba get into the strike zone, look to build his pitch count. Chamberlain was pumped enough to reach 100 mph five times. But also enough to consistently miss the zone.

Manager Joe Girardi had praised Chamberlain’s control and four-pitch arsenal in justifying this transition. But Chamberlain needed 38 pitches to get through the first and walked four batters in all. Chamberlain threw 62 pitches, 60 either fastballs or sliders. There were two curves, no changeups. So it was hard to see this day as a step forward, especially when you consider Veras, Ramirez and LaTroy Hawkins – all part of the audition to replace Chamberlain – were far more dreadful than the starter, just as Farnsworth had been the previous night.

This would all be tolerable in March. But this was Game 58. The last-place Yanks are 28-30. The future isn’t now.